Topic: human rights in an islamic state Posted: 18 February 2008 at 4:19am

Assalam alai kum all

Much is being talked about in the West about Islam and islamic state as a supressor of human rights so in this regards i would like to post in very brief the rights a citizen of an islamic state that are guaranteed to him from our creator Allah SWT.

Although an Islamic state may be
set up in any part of the earth, Islam does not seek to restrict human rights
or privileges to the geographical limits of its own state. Islam has laid down
some universal fundamental rights for humanity as a whole, which are to be
observed and respected under all circumstances whether such a person is
resident within the territory of the Islamic state or outside it, whether he is
at peace or at war. The Quran very clearly states:

"O
believers, be you securers of justice, witness for God. Let not detestation for
a people move you not to be equitable; be equitable - that is nearer to
God-fearing." (5:8)

Human blood
is sacred in any case and cannot be spilled without justification. And if
anyone violates this sanctity of human blood by killing a soul without
justification, the Quran equates it to the killing of entire mankind.

"...Whoso
slays a soul not to retaliate for a soul slain, nor for corruption done in the
land, should be as if he had slain mankind altogether." (5:32)

It is not
permissible to oppress women, children, old people, the sick or the wounded.
Women's honor and chastity are to be respected under all circumstances. The
hungry person must be fed, the naked clothed and the wounded or diseased
treated medically irrespective of whether they belong to the Islamic community
or are from among its enemies.

When we speak of human rights in
Islam we really mean that these rights have been granted by God; they have not
been granted by any king or by any legislative assembly. The rights granted by
the kings or the legislative assemblies, can also be withdrawn in the same
manner in which they are conferred. The same is the case with the rights
accepted and recognized by the dictators. They can confer them when they please
and withdraw them when they wish; and they can openly violate them when they
like. But since in Islam human rights have been conferred by God, no
legislative assembly in the world or any government on earth has the right or
authority to make any amendment or change in the rights conferred by God. No
one has the right to abrogate them or withdraw them. Nor are they basic human
rights which are conferred on paper for the sake of show and exhibition and
denied in actual life when the show is over. Nor are they like philosophical
concepts which have no sanctions behind them.

Human
Rights In An Islamic State

1.The Security Of Life And
Property:

In the address which the
Prophet delivered on the occasion of the Farewell Hajj, he said: "Your lives and properties are forbidden to one
another till you meet your Lord on the Day of Resurrection." The
Prophet has also said about the dhimmis (the non-Muslim citizens of the Muslim
state): "One who kills a man under
covenant (i.e., dhimmi) will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise."

2.The Protection Of Honor:

The Holy Quran lays
down: (49:11-12)

11. O you who believe! Let not a group
scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former;
nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better
than the former, nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames.
How bad is it, to insult one's brother after having Faith [i.e. to call your
Muslim brother (a faithful believer) as: "O sinner", or "O
wicked", etc.]. And whosoever does not repent, then such are indeed Zalimoon
(wrong-doers, etc.).

12. O you who believe!
Avoid much suspicions, indeed some
suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of
you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate
backbiting) . And fear Allah.
Verily, Allah is the One
Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful.

3.Sanctity And Security Of
Private Life:

The Quran has laid down the injunction:

Chapter 49:12

12. O you who believe! Avoid much
suspicions, indeed some suspicions are sins. And spy not, neither backbite one
another. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate
it (so hate backbiting) . And fear Allah.
Verily, Allah is the One
Who accepts repentance, Most Merciful.

Chapter
24:27

27. O you who believe! Enter not houses
other than your own, until you have asked permission and greeted those in them,
that is better for you, in order that you may remember.

4.The Security Of Personal
Freedom:

Islam has laid down the
principle that no citizen can be imprisoned unless his guilt has been proven in
an open court. To arrest a man only on the basis of suspicion and to throw him
into a prison without proper court proceedings and without providing him a
reasonable opportunity to produce his defense is not permissible in Islam.

5.The Right To Protest
Against Tyranny:

Among the rights that Islam has conferred on human beings is the right to
protest against government's tyranny. Referring to it the Quran says:

Quran Chapter 4:148

148. Allah
does not like that the evil should be uttered in public except by him who has
been wronged. And Allah
is Ever All Hearer, All Knower.

In Islam, as has been
argued earlier, all power and authority belong to God, and with man there is
only delegated power which becomes a trust; everyone who becomes a recipient of
such a power has to stand in awful reverence before his people toward whom and
for whose sake he will be called upon to use these powers. This was
acknowledged by Hazrat Abu Bakr who said in his very first address: "Cooperate with me when I am right but correct
me when I commit error; obey me so long as I follow the commandments of Allah
and His Prophet; but turn away from me when I deviate."

6.Freedom Of Expression:

Islam gives the right of freedom of thought and expression to all citizens of
the Islamic state on the condition that it should be used for the propagation
of virtue and truth and not for spreading evil and wickedness. The Islamic
concept of freedom of expression is much superior to the concept prevalent in
the West. Under no circumstances would Islam allow evil and wickedness to be
propagated. It also does not give anybody the right to use abusive or offensive
language in the name of criticism. It was the practice of the Muslims to
enquire from the Holy Prophet whether on a certain matter a divine injunction
had been revealed to him. If he said that he had received no divine injunction,
the Muslims freely expressed their opinion on the matter.

7.Freedom Of Association:

Islam has also given
people the right to freedom of association and formation of parties or
organizations. This right is also subject to certain general rules.

8.Freedom Of Conscience And
Conviction:

Islam has laid down the
injunction:

Quran chapter 2:256

256. There is no compulsion in religion.
Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever
disbelieves in Taghot and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy
handhold that will never break. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower.

On the
contrary, totalitarian societies totally deprive the individuals of their
freedom. Indeed, this undue exaltation of the state authority curiously enough
postulates a sort of servitude, of slavishness on the part of man. At one time
slavery meant total control of man over man - now that type of slavery has been
legally abolished but in its place totalitarian societies impose a similar sort
of control over individuals.

9.Protection Of Religious
Sentiments:

Along with the freedom of conviction and freedom of conscience, Islam has given
the right to the individual that his religious sentiments will be given due
respect and nothing will be said or done which may encroach upon his right.

10.Protection From Arbitrary
Imprisonment:

Islam also recognizes the
right of the individual not to be arrested or imprisoned for the offenses of
others. The Holy Quran has laid down this principle clearly:

Quran Chapter
35:18

18. And no bearer of burdens shall bear
another's burden, and if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load,
nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin. You (O Muhammad ) can warn only those who fear their Lord
unseen, and perform As-Sal�t
(Iq�mat�as�Sal�t).
And he who purifies himself (from all kinds of sins), then he purifies only for
the benefit of his ownself. And to All�h
is the (final) Return (of all).

11.The Right To Basic
Necessities of Life:

Islam has recognized the right of the needy people for help and assistance to
be provided to them:

Quran Chapter 51:19

19. And in their properties there was the
right of the beggar, and the Mahrum
(the poor who does not ask the others),

12.Equality Before Law:

Islam gives its citizens the right to absolute and complete equality in the
eyes of the law.

13.Rulers Not Above The Law:

A woman belonging to a high and noble family was arrested in connection with
theft. The case was brought to the Prophet, and it was recommended that she
might be spared the punishment of theft. The Prophet replied: "The nations that lived before you were
destroyed by God because they punished the common man for their offenses and
let their dignitaries go unpunished for their crimes; I swear by Him Who holds
my life in His hand that even if Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad, had
committed this crime, I would have amputated her hand."

14.The Right To Participate In The Affairs Of
State:

Quran Chapter 42:38

38. And those who answer the Call of their
Lord [i.e. to believe that He is the only One Lord (All�h), and to worship none but Him Alone], and perform
As-Sal�t (Iq�mat-as-Sal�t), and who (conduct) their
affairs by mutual consultation, and who spend of what We have bestowed on them;

The "Shura" or
the legislative assembly has no other meaning except that the executive head of
the government and the members of the assembly should be elected by free and
independent choice of the people.

Lastly, it is
to be made clear that Islam tries to achieve the above mentioned human rights
and many others not only by providing certain legal safeguards but mainly by
inviting mankind to transcend the lower level of animal life to be able to go
beyond the mere ties fostered by the kinship of blood, racial superiority,
linguistic arrogance, and economic privileges. It invites mankind to move on to
a plane of existence where, by reason of his inner excellence, man can realize
the ideal of the Brotherhood of man.

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